Nigeria's Illegal Oil Refineries

Reuters photographer Akintunde Akinleye recently gained rare access to an illegal oil refinery near the river Nun in Nigeria's oil state of Bayelsa. There, he was able to document the secret and dangerous practice of oil bunkering, where locals hack into oil pipelines, steal the crude oil, and refine or sell it abroad. For over 50 years now, crude oil and natural gas have been extracted from the Niger Delta by large corporations, which have had their share of environmental disasters. The ongoing damage from the tapped pipes and these makeshift refineries continue to take a terrible toll on the environment and the local population. See also "Nigeria: The Cost of Oil" from 2011.

Smoke rises as an illegal oil refinery burns after a military chase in a winding creek near river Nun in Nigeria's oil state of Bayelsa, on December 6, 2012. Thousands of people in Nigeria engage in a practice known locally as "oil bunkering" - hacking into pipelines to steal crude then refining it or selling it abroad. The practice, which leaves oil spewing from pipelines for miles around, managed to lift around a fifth of Nigeria's two million barrel a day production last year according to the finance ministry.#

Ebiowei, 48, carries an empty oil container on his head to a place where it would be filled with refined fuel at an illegal refinery site near river Nun in Bayelsa State, on November 27, 2012. Locals in the industry say workers can earn $50 to $60 a day.#

Security officials move through a swamp as smoke rises after an oil pipeline explosion caused by people who tried to steal fuel at Arepo village, just outside Lagos, on January 13, 2013. At least three people were seen dead, according to a Reuters witness.#

A body lies in a polluted, burned swamp after an oil pipeline explosion caused by people who tried to steal fuel at Arepo village, Nigeria, on January 13, 2013. At least three people were seen dead, according to a Reuters witness.#

A man named Godswill collects crude oil from a small storage pit filled with oil, which is waiting to be refined at an illegal refinery site near the river Nun in Nigeria's oil state of Bayelsa, on November 27, 2012.#

A crude oil refinery worker stands in front of a locally made burner in an illegal oil refinery site near the river Nun, on November 27, 2012. The worker said that he had been doing the job for two years and earned the equivalent of around $60 a day.#

A young woman named Akpomene, coated in oil stains as she sits in a canoe near river Nun in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, on November 27, 2012. Akpomene fishes in the creek and sells the fish to help her family. She washes after fishing but still has sticky rashes on her body.#